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ὄνος , ὁ and ἡ,
A.ass, once in Hom., Il.11.558 ; then in IG12.40.12, Hdt.4.135, etc., cf. Arist.HA580b3 ; ὄνοι οἱ τὰ κέρεα ἔχοντες, together with a number of fabulous animals, Hdt.4.191,192 ; “ὄ. μονοκέρατος” Arist.HA499b19, PA663a23, cf. Ael.NA3.41 :—freq. in provs.:
1. ὄ. λύρας (sc. ἀκούων), of one who can make nothing of music, Men. 527, Id.Mis.18, cf. Varroap.Gell.3.16.13, Diogenian.7.33 ; expld. in Apostol.12.91a, ὄ. λύρας ἤκουε καὶ σάλπιγγος ὗς; ὄ. κάθηται, of one who sits down when caught in the game of ὀστρακίνδα, Poll.9.106, 112 ; the two provs. combined by Cratin. 229 ὄνοι δ᾽ ἀπωτέρω κάθηντ αι τῆς λύρας, cf. κιθαρίζω.
2. περὶ ὄνου σκιᾶς for an ass's shadow, i.e. for a trifle, Ar.V.191(v. Sch.), Pl.Phdr.260c ; “ταῦτα πάντ᾽ ὄνου σκιά” S. Fr.331.
3. ὄνου πόκαι or πόκες, v. πόκος 11 ; ὄνον κείρεις, of those who attempt the impossible, Zen.5.38.
4. ἀπ᾽ ὄνου καταπεσεῖν, of one who gets into a scrape by his own clumsiness. with a pun on ἀπὸ νοῦ πεσεῖν, Ar.Nu.1273, cf. Pl.Lg.701d.
5. ὄνος ὕεται an ass in the rain, of being unmoved by what is said or done, Cratin.52, cf. Cephisod.1 ; “ὄνῳ τις ἔλεγε μῦθον, ὁ δὲ τὰ ὦτα ἐκίνει” Diogenian.7.30 ; “ὄ. εἰς Ἀθήνας” Macar.Prov.6.31.
6. ὄ. ἄγω μυστήρια, i.e my part is to carry burdens, Ar.Ra.159.
7. ὄνων ὑβριστότερος, of wanton behaviour, X.An.5.8.3 ; “κριθώσης ὄνου” S.Fr.876.
8. ὦτ᾽ ὄνου λαβεῖν, like Midas, Ar.Pl.287.
9. ὄ. εἰς ἄχυρα, of one who gets what he wants, Diogenian.6.91 ; ὄνου γνάθος, of a glutton, ib. 100.
10. ὄ. ἐν μελίσσαις, of one who has got into a scrape, Crates Com.36 ; but ὄ. ἐν πιθήκοις, of extreme ugliness, Men.402.8 ; ὄ. ἐν μύρῳ 'a clown at a feast', Suid.
11. εἰς ὄνους ἀφ᾽ ἵππων, of one who has come down in the world, Lib.Ep.34.2, cf. Zen.2.33, etc.
II. a fish of the cod family, esp. the hake, Merluccius vulgaris, Epich. 67, Arist.HA599b33, Fr.326, Henioch.3.3, Opp.H.1.151, etc.
III. wood-louse, “κυλισθεὶς ὥς τις ὄ. ἰσόσπριος” S.Fr.363, cf. Arist.HA557a23 (v.l. ὀνίοις), Thphr.HP4.3.6, Hsch.s.v. σηνίκη; cf. “ὀνίσκος” 11, ἴουλος IV.
IV. wingless locust, = τρωξαλλίς, Dsc.2.52.
V. ὄνων φάτνη a nebulous appearance between the ὄνοι (two stars in the breast of the Crab), Theoc.22.21, cf. Arat.898, Thphr.Sign.23 (ἡ τοῦ ὄνου φάτνη ib.43,51), Ptol.Tetr.23.
VI. ὄνου πετάλειον, = φύλλον ὀνίτιδος, Nic.Th.628.
VII. from the ass as a beast of burden the name passed to:
1. windlass, Hdt.7.36, Hp.Fract.31, Arist.Mech.853b12.
2. the upper millstone which turned round, “ὄ. ἀλέτης” X.An.1.5.5 ; also “ὄ. ἀλετών” Alex.13, 204, cf. Hsch. s.v. μύλη ; perh. simply, millstone, Herod.6.83 : Phot. says that Aristotle also calls the fixed nether millstone ὄνος (but Arist.Pr.964b38 says, ὄνου λίθον ἀλοῦντος when the millstone is grinding stone, as it does when no grist is in the mill).
3. beaker, winecup, Ar.V.616, Posidon.2 J.
4. spindle or distaff, Poll.7.32,10.125, Hsch.
5. perh. coping of a wall, Inscr.Délos372 A158 (iii/ii B.C.).
VIII. ass's load, as a measure, “πυροῦ ὄ. τρεῖς” PFay.67.2(i A.D.).
Henry George Liddell. Robert Scott. A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by. Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with the assistance of. Roderick McKenzie. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1940.

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  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (20):
    • Aristophanes, Frogs, 159
    • Aristophanes, Plutus, 287
    • Aristophanes, Wasps, 191
    • Aristophanes, Wasps, 616
    • Herodotus, Histories, 4.135
    • Herodotus, Histories, 4.191
    • Herodotus, Histories, 7.36
    • Homer, Iliad, 11.558
    • Plato, Laws, 701d
    • Plato, Phaedrus, 260c
    • Xenophon, Anabasis, 1.5.5
    • Xenophon, Anabasis, 5.8.3
    • Sophocles, Ichneutae, 11
    • Sophocles, Ichneutae, 331
    • Sophocles, Ichneutae, 363
    • Sophocles, Ichneutae, 876
    • Aristophanes, Clouds, 1273
    • Hippocrates, De fracturis, 31
    • Aelian, De Natura Animalium, 3.41
    • Claudius Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, 23
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